Deus Ex - Things Under the Bed
by MetalPorSiempreDA
Summary: Your daughter telling you there is a monster under her bed has very different connotations in the post-collapse cyberpunk future.


Deus Ex series developed by Ion Storm, Eidos Montreal, N-Fusion Interactive, Square Enix Montreal. Published by Eidos Interactive, Square Enix.

* * *

"Mum." The little girl's voice ringed through the dark room as she pulled Anna Kelso's nightdress. "Mum!"

"She's talking to you." Lebedev mumbled next to her.

"I hear." Anna rolled on her side to face the little girl, eyes closed. "Lin, what's wrong?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"No. You are three. You have to sleep in your own bed."

"But there is a monster under."

Lin-May Chen let out a shocked cry when Anna's arms wrapped around her with panic to pull her onto the bed. Lebedev also jolted awake, his hand slamming the light switch on.

Anna stood up on the bed, eyes switched to smart vision, scanning the room. What was it? A karkian? A ruck? A greasel?

Their apartment was on the fifth floor, so the first was unlikely. And, while she controlled everyday the state of the grilles and mesh strainers, she guessed a particularly dedicated ruck or greasel could make it through.

"It's not in here." Anna spoke, as Lebedev handed her her Mustang Arms Magnum. She turned towards Lin, who was hugged against him. "Did it hurt you?"

The little girl shook her head.

"Did it follow you out?"

Another negative.

"Stay here." Anna instructed, and she patted Lin's hair. "I will take care of it."

* * *

Lebedev readied the old Zenith CA-40 pistol, and aimed it at the room's door. He carried Lin with him over to the window which faced to the emergency stairs. "If anything comes through the door that's not mum, you jump out, understood?"

Lin nodded, trembling.

"Say it." He insisted, tapping the window's lock.

"Yes."

* * *

Anna walked into Lin's room with wary steps. Her smart vision had showed something moving under the bed.

She closed the door behind herself. Normally, she would never deliberately face a greasel or ruck in a enclosed environment. But she preferred testing her odds than risking it avoiding her and making its way to Lin.

Anna reacted to the movement before even trying to make out the form of the creature. She shot two rounds in rapid succession, a splash of blood hitting her face.

* * *

Lebedev heard the loud noise of the gunshots, and reaffirmed his grip on the pistol.

Following came the sound of quick footsteps and a knock on the door.

"It's me." Anna spoke. "I'm coming in, please don't shoot me."

Lebedev lowered the pistol and, as Anna opened the door and walked in, he met her half way. Hugging her, he worked to clean the blood from her face.

"Did the monster go away?" Lin's voice came weak from the windowsill.

"It's fine." Anna replied, parting from Lebedev's hug to join Lin. "It was just a really big rat. Nothing to worry about."

But Lin shook her head. "It was a monster. It had big teeth and long claws and red eyes."

Anna lifted the girl up in a hug. "It's fine. You can sleep with us tonight."

But rather than calm down, Anna felt Lin tense before letting out a terrified scream.

She turned around, just in time to see a ruck emerge from the shadows of the room's air purifier duct.

Lebedev reacted, aiming the pistol at it and shooting. The rounds hit its chest as it jumped viciously at him. He let go of the gun just in time to catch the creature by its neck, its claws slashing violently the air centimetres away from his face, its fangs biting air. The force of the impact threw him against the wall.

Anna let go of Lin. Instinctively, she aimed for the ruck's head, but it reacted impervious to the shots.

Desperately, she made a grab for one of her shoes. Violently, Anna stabbed the stiletto's heel on the creature's neck. It let out a sharp pained cry, its attention diverting from Lebedev. With just as much fury, she pulled the heel off, blood splattering viciously from the perforated artery.

The ruck tried, unsuccessfully, to get back at Anna, before collapsing on the floor.

Anna turned her attention towards the duct once more. This time, when a pair of red eyes glimmered in the dark, she was ready. Her neurovestibular implant kicked on, and three bullets made their way into the ruck's mouth. Its brain splattering all over the wall behind.

Anna shot one more time into the air duct. The sound of the impact resonating loudly. She heard the screeching of a third ruck, backing off discouraged by the carnage.

Anna rushed to the wall, and pushed the closet in front of the opening. It wouldn't really do much to hold the creature if it decided to come back, but it was better than having the dark hole visible.

She turned around, to find Lebedev sitting on the floor, back resting against the wall. Blood spluttered from a wound on his arm, a slash from the ruck's claws. Lin knelt beside him, her hands trying to help his put pressure on the wound.

Anna grabbed a sheet from the bed and knelt beside them. She tore the fabric into strips and bandaged the wound.

"It's fine. Everything will be fine." Lebedev tried to calm the girl.

Anna helped him up and nodded towards the window.

She grabbed the remaining sheets and bedspread, wrapping them around Lin's and Lebedev's bodies.

They made their way out of the window, and noticed the lights of the neighbouring apartments. On some, the people were looking down on them curiously, unsure if this was something they wanted to involve themselves with.

"Rucks!" Anna shouted at the top of her lungs. "Rucks in the air ducts."

The neighbours disappeared from their windows. The fire alarm detonated.

* * *

Anna sat, asleep, her head resting on Lebedev's chest. Lin laid by his side on the clinic bed.

Lebedev looked at Anna's asleep form. He lifted his good arm, careful not to wake the little girl, and brushed Anna's hair off her face.

"You scared me." She mumbled, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Did you really kill a rat with two bullets?"

Anna shifted her weight, so she could rest an arm across his pillow. "That's it? That's what you are worried about?"

"You killed a creature genetically modified for military use with the heel of your shoe. Shooting a rat seems a little overkill"

Anna shook her head, caressing Lin's hair. "I wasn't taking any chances... and it was big."

He arched an eyebrow.

"I promise to use only one bullet the next time." She replied with exaggerated solemnity. "Though I don't know why you are assuming both hit it."

"Anna..." He began, but then he let out a sight. "You should have run with Lin when that thing got me."

She shook her head, looking him in the eye. "The second one would have followed us."

"You didn't know there was a second one."

"No." Anna replied firmly. She rested her forehead on his. "I was not going to leave you behind. Not after everything we have been through." She paused, looking down towards Lin, asleep by his side. "And I'm not going to let her loose you."

Lebedev stared at her, after a while he placed a kiss to the corner of her lips. "Fair enough. But only if you accept I won't ever leave you behind either. After all, you are the one she calls when there is a monster under her bed."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

No popular or canon ships. We sink in our canoes like men.

I AUed so HARD, that not only did Juan Lebedev survive the original Deus Ex but also he and Anna Kelso adopted Lin-May Chen.

For reference, I ship Anna Kelso with Juan Lebedev. Yes, it's crack. No, I don't care. Yes, you are invited to jump on board this angst fuelled canoe.


End file.
